


Glistening Red Under Moonlight

by ErebosBlue



Category: Persona 3, Persona 5
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Personas (Persona Series), Alternate Universe - Vampire, Anxiety Attacks, Blood and Gore, Cafe Leblanc (Persona 5), Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Depression, Dialogue Heavy, Dissociation, Eating Disorders, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Guilt, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, Touch-Starved, Underage Prostitution, Vampire Bites, Vampire Turning, it's not that bad though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:06:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24366274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErebosBlue/pseuds/ErebosBlue
Summary: Minato had a shitty life. That wasn't a surprise to anyone. He grew up barely being able to live and that translated into being a young adult. Every day seemed like the same routine and it was hell. Well, that was until he found a small coffee shop with an owner/barista that was always open to listen.-Akira also had a pretty shitty life. Being a Vampire wasn't exactly as cool as literally anyone thought it would be. He hadn't even been a Vampire for all that long. He was 30. He'd been a Vampire for 15 of those, granted. LeBlanc was always an escape. Especially since a particularly cute patron uses it to vent.
Relationships: Arisato Minato/Kurusu Akira, I tried not to I swear - Relationship, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Glistening Red Under Moonlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know! I know! I have other fics to write yada yada. Yes, I know. But look. My friends and I were talking on a Discord call and one of them mentioned Vampires. In that moment, I realized that I had never written a vampire fic. So, here I am.  
> Also, if you read [Alone for Another Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22759582/chapters/54383635) there is actually a small spoiler in this fic. I doubt many people will have because Alone for Another Night is in a different fandom, but there's that. It's just a small detail that I'm sure most people will brush over.  
> Have fun reading the first chapter of this Vampire fic.

Minato took a step out into the cold, dark night. The cool air hit him like a ton of bricks. Everything in that house had been too warm. It was autumn, sure, but that didn’t mean the house needed constant heat pumped through it as if they were in the midst of the coldest winter they’d ever gone through. It wasn’t even _that_ cold for autumn.

Minato pushed the thought aside as he reached where he had wanted to go. LeBlanc. It was a small café for a small town. Minato had never been, but Yukari swore it was the best coffee she ever had. Yukari was known for exaggerating things, but it was worth a try anyway. Plus, it was open until late into the night, so Minato actually had a place to go when it was 11, edging on 12, when he had nothing to do and no one to see.

Minato opened the door gently. Who knew what was on the other side. Minato was greeted by warm lights and a warm smile. The person on the other side of the counter had messy black hair, grey eyes, was fairly tall, and had the warmest smile. He had on an apron and big, round glasses. Minato brushed off the thought that he was very much hot.

“Can I please get the house blend?” Minato asked, sitting down on one of the barstools. Akira, as the name tag read, nodded, and quickly got to work. Minato relaxed in his seat. The past days had been so stressful he barely had the chance to breathe. Minato rested himself on his arms. He was tired. Coffee probably wouldn’t help, but he needed something.

“Long day?” Akira asked setting the cup of coffee next to Minato. Minato nodded softly.

“You could say.” Minato took a sip of the coffee. It was actually really good. Minato never called himself a coffee person, but it was really good. Though, he could’ve just never had real coffee. Shitty instant wasn’t exactly a good baseline.

“Well, no one else is here if you want to talk about it.” Minato was shocked by the proposition, but Akira was very casual about it. He had already started cleaning the counter when he said it. Minato bit his lip slightly. Was he really going to dump his problems onto someone who he had just met? Akira gave a quick small smile and that did it for Minato.

“Well, I mean, I don’t exactly have enough money to live alone, so I live with a couple roommates. They, well, they aren’t great. I mean, they aren’t awful or anything. They try their best, I think, but we don’t exactly mesh well as people. That’s its own thing though.

“I can’t really find any solid footing working. I have a job, sure, but hours are never defined, I’m not even sure how that _works_ , and it pays nothing. It seems to be my only option though. I’ve tried getting other jobs, really anything, but I’m always rejected. I’m assuming it’s because of my past. It always is.

“It wouldn’t even be that bad if I had parents to rely on. I mean, it’s not like I would use them for money, but I’m barely making enough to live in a house with _4 other people_.” Minato stopped when he realized just how much he had said to a complete stranger. “Sorry, you probably didn’t need to hear all that.” Akira gave a warm laugh.

“Well, that _was_ more than I expected,” Minato hid in his arms on the counter, “But I didn’t mind hearing you rant.” Minato barely saw as Akira threw the towel onto his shoulder. “You know, no one comes in during this time of day. You could come by if you ever needed to just vent.” Minato straightened himself up and took the coffee cup into his hands.

“You’d really listen to me vent about all of my problems even though you don’t even know my name?”

“Well I could know your name if you let me.” Minato laughed softly at the poor attempt at flirting.

“Minato Arisato.”

“Akira Kurusu.” Minato took another drink of the coffee. It really was good coffee.

“Do you work these shifts alone?”

“I work every shift alone. I own the place and am too stubborn to hire anyone else.” Minato held in a laugh at that. It sounded like something he would say.

“How long have you owned it?” Minato figured small talk was in order after he had just dumped his problems onto Akira. That plan had one crucial flaw as Minato was shit at small talk. Akira went along with it though.

“About 10 years.”

“How old _are_ you?” He looked young. Minato had assumed he was around his own age.

“30. Though I was younger?” Akira leaned against the counter with a sly smile that Minato decided to ignore.

“I mean, yeah. No offense, but you look about as young as me.”

“And how old are you?” Minato went to answer but had to take a second. He never paid mind to his birthday, but he should at least give the right age. It was November 20th which meant he had turned 21 4 days ago. Minato really couldn’t care less that he was the legal age to drink.

“Just turned 21.” Akira’s face also turned to one of surprise. It was probably more about the fact that he 21 and just told him about all the problems he was going through. “Didn’t expect that?”

“Not in the slightest. Going through all that at a young age? Must really suck.” Akira said as he moved over to the sink. He started washing one of the cups before Minato could even reply.

“It’s not great. I have friends though, so it’s not all bad.” Minato looked into his cup to see that he had very little coffee left. He found himself setting it back down. He really didn’t want to leave the conversation yet. Soon, maybe, but not yet.

“Friends are nice. Any particular reason you decided to not room with your friends?” Akira continued washing dishes nonchalantly as if they weren’t talking about things Minato had barely told anyone.

“Mainly, I didn’t want to. I kinda want my friends to be separate from my home life if that makes sense.” Minato hated mixing his friends and home. Where he lived was just that. Sure he would call it a home, but it was nothing more than shelter to him.

“Makes enough sense. Though, living with friends might alleviate the whole roommate thing.” Minato laughed lightly to himself.

“They’d probably tear each other to pieces considering how often the bicker. That wouldn’t exactly be ideal either.” Akira laughed lightly after Minato explained what kind of place that would be. “But it would be more entertaining than annoying. Who knows?”

“I have friends like that too, so don’t worry. If I wasn’t there to mediate, I doubt some of them would still be alive.”

“Sounds about right.” Minato finished off the last bit of his coffee. It was past 12:30. He really should go home. “Thanks for the coffee.” Minato set payment next to the empty cup and pushed himself off of the stool. Akira said a quick goodbye before Minato shut the café door behind him. The cold air embraced him once more.

The atmosphere was bleak in contrast to the café, but Minato felt more natural in it than anything else. Maybe it was the leftover teenage angst speaking, but Minato preferred the almost scarily barren streets than a warm interior design. It was just more peaceful for him. There were very few cars that drove in the small town at night, so it was almost completely silent. Maybe that would’ve been terrifying if Minato didn’t have headphones on.

As Minato walked the streets, he saw that lights were still on in his shared house. He wasn’t exactly surprised that anyone was awake, but it was a minor annoyance. It would lead to more small talk which is the last thing he needed. He had enjoyed the small talk with Akira, sure, but he could only take so much one day. That combined with the rest of talking in the day meant that he wasn’t completely done socializing.

Minato paused his music before he opened the door. He still had them on, but he knew that someone was gonna say something and that he would have to put them on his shoulders to engage in some sort of conversation before he could retreat. He did appreciate the fact that he had a place to live, so he couldn’t just _ignore_ them like he wanted to. It was tempting, but he had been kicked out of houses before. It was better to be safe than sorry.

“There you are.” Minato quickly took off his headphones when he heard a voice from the kitchen. Out of said kitchen walked out Luke. Luke was one of Minato’s more chill roommates. While the didn’t get along all the time, they could tolerate being in each other’s company much longer than the others. Luke was tall with brown hair and teal eyes. “It’s a bit late wouldn’t you say?”

“Not really. I’m normally up this late anyway.” Luke shrugged slightly and took a sip of whatever he was drinking.

“Just stay safe. Who knows what can happen at night.” Minato gave a quick, dry laugh.

“I’ve had more problems during the day than the night, but I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.” Minato went to walk off, but apparently Luke still wanted to talk.

“Your job still wearing down on you?”

“You could say.” Minato leaned up against the wall behind him. Might as well get slightly comfortable if he was going to be talking for a while longer.

“Have you thought about getting a new job.” Minato hadn’t told anyone else about the fact that he was rejected everywhere he went for a job. It was only natural that Luke was asking.

“Still looking. Most people don’t want to hire someone with no real experience and a limited education.” Minato felt less bad saying part of the problems he had than just saying that it was complicated. Luke nodded knowing that Minato any sort of higher education. He couldn’t afford it. It would just put him in debt that he couldn’t get out of because he _still_ wouldn’t be able to find a job.

“Life really can be unfair.” Luke shook his head slightly. “Do you have any plans for the weekend?” Minato blinked a couple times at the sudden question.

“No?”

“Well, you might want to get some. I’m having friends over.” Minato was definitely getting plans for the weekend. Maybe he could try and hang out with his friends. Even just one of them would be good enough for him. Though, it would be nice to have the group together. They hadn’t done that since high school. Were they all still friends? Minato barely heard from most of them. Yukari, Junpei, and Aigis texted him a decent amount, but they hadn’t hung out in forever. Had everyone moved on?

Minato felt a chill run down his spine as the thought crossed his mind. Minato had always assured himself that he had his friends there for him, but did he really? He tried to text them all when he remembered, but he always felt so busy that it was probably less often than he thought it was. Minato wouldn’t’ve blamed them if they had just assumed he was interested in continuing being friends with them. Or maybe they were just on a different path in life and Minato didn’t fit in anymore.

With glazed-over eyes, Minato ushered Luke a quick goodnight and headed to his room. If Luke had said anything, Minato didn’t, couldn’t, hear it. Minato opened the door to his room slowly. He wasn’t sure why, but it was what he did. Minato put his headphones back on and blasted whatever song he was listening to. He didn’t want to focus on anything. He just wanted to be absorbed in what he was listening to and forget the world. Forget what the next day would entail. Forget whatever was haunting him now. Just forget everything.

Normally, when he would become absorbed in his music, the world would either come back into his grasp to a degree or he would fall asleep. Neither of those happened. Minato grimaced as he realized he had been lying for 10’s of minutes and he still hadn’t been able to tear his eyes away from the stark white ceiling. His phone was sure to die at this rate, but he couldn’t find the energy to reach for it and plug it in. The charger was right there, he knew it from memory, but his eyes were trained on the wall and his hands were stuck where they had been put when he laid down.

That was new. He could normally still _move_ when he had lost touch with reality. Minato blinked his eyes a couple times hoping that would free him from his prison, but it only helped minutely. He could at least move his fingers a little, but he still found himself stuck where he laid. Minato grunted slightly. He couldn’t sleep in the state he was in. Minato closed his eyes fully and tried to focus on the lyrics of the song. He was lucky the song that was on in the moment _had_ lyrics.

It worked as well as he needed it to. Slowly he was able to actually change the position he was in on the bed. It was a small victory, but it would make sleeping easier in the position he was in. However, it was then that he hit a roadblock. To sleep, he needed to plug his phone in. That would be fine if the only thing making sleeping possible was the music. It wasn’t like he could plug both in because _of course he couldn’t_. Minato decided that he would wait for his phone to die before he went to plug it in. That way he could listen to music as long as his phone would allow so that he could hopefully sleep in peace.

Eventually, after who knows how long, his phone died. Minato hated the fact that it was an abrupt end to what he was listening to, but he stuck with his plan and slowly unplugged his headphones and plugged in his phone. After only a few seconds of his eyes being closed, he fell asleep, not even bothered by the fact that his room light was still on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does Minato know what dissociation is?  
> Not in the slightest.  
> Should he?  
> Really, he should.  
> Also, if you're wondering, no Vampires aren't really known about and Minato has no clue Akira is a Vampire.  
> We'll get to that later though.  
> Also, both Minato and Akira had a shitty upbringing, but Akira is a lot better off now. That doesn't mean he's 100%, but he's better off than Minato at this point.


End file.
